Environment

Cities and utilities are increasingly relying on data analytics tools to advance their smart systems, even as municipal leaders grapple with how to pay for these upgrades. Fulfilling the smart city promise will require integrating communication technology and increasing stakeholder engagement. This combination will help transform cities and infrastructure, according to Black & Veatch’s just-released 2017 Strategic Directions: Smart City/Smart Utility Report.

The James M. Cox Foundation announced a $2 million contribution to help fund Centennial Olympic Park’s renovation and expansion. The park served as a focal point during the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Green Mountain Energy partners with Trees For Houston to give back 500 trees to the Houston area.

Beginning in 2013, Edison International has provided funding support for the development of Discovery Agents “missions” aimed at helping young people ages 8-to-14 connect with nature, educate them about their local environment, and promote physical activity. Discovery Agents is a mobile game application (“app”) developed by Community Partners, a non-profit organization, for the U.S. Get to Know Program.

Global Energy News has named SCS Global Services as recipient of its 2016 Best Renewable Energy Verification Specialist award, highlighting SCS' certification and verification services in the renewable energy sector and involvement in national and international standards development.

National nonprofit Keep America Beautiful and the United States Composting Council (USCC) today announced that they, along with five other participating nonprofits and government agencies, recommend designating green as the voluntary container color standard for organics collection containers. This initiative was simultaneously announced at the USCC’s 25th Annual Conference in Los Angeles and at the Keep America Beautiful National Conference in Washington, D.C., both taking place through Jan. 26.

Read about the numerous trends have shaped the evolution and growth of SRI within US financial markets - that has Sustainable Responsible Impact Investing assets up 33% in 2 years.

US sustainable, responsible and impact (SRI) investing continues to expand. The total US-domiciled assets under management using SRI strategies grew from $6.57 trillion at the start of 2014 to $8.72 trillion at the start of 2016, an increase of 33 percent.

As the global economy moves toward implementation of its new climate goals, the world’s largest purchasing organizations are using their buying clout to drive down emissions across their supply chains.